The date of this writing is October 29.  We are just two days away from Halloween and one day away from our church’s Fall Family Fun Fest.  I am so excited, as it’s going to be a great way to engage with our community.  As I’ve been praying for our festivities and been looking over social media, I’ve noticed that much has been made over Halloween, particularly as it relates to a Christian’s involvement in it.  There are some that have absolutely no problem with it, allowing their children to participate in trick-or treating and themselves watching horror movies or even attending haunted houses.  Conversely, there are those that think that Halloween is evil in every conceivable way and that churches should not participate in any event on that day, even fall festivals.  With this wide range of views, the question is “what is an appropriate Christian response?”  I’ve seen so much written on both sides of the argument, and I’ve always been hesitant to throw my hat into the ring, primarily because little good ever comes from most of these dialogues. However, today I feel compelled to add my two cents, for no other reason than to give my beloved church family a little perspective on why our church does a fall festival.

I certainly understand and respect the viewpoint of those not wanting to participate in any Halloween-related activities.  The majority of folks that I have spoken to that hold to this view feel that Halloween is celebrating paganism and evil, and that a Christian’s participation in it is giving credibility to the enemy.  I have also read and studied the plethora of verses that speak to being separated from evil, and I would certainly affirm those. However, while I understand this perspective, I look at this a bit differently.  I feel that by totally separating ourselves from the world, we are giving Satan much more credit than he deserves.  Let’s not overreact here.

In the same way that Scripture speaks to not conforming to evil, Jesus also speaks very clearly about how to penetrate the darkness of the world.  In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus said:

You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven (NIV).

Simply put, Jesus us telling us to go out and engage our communities.  If we have the light of Christ living through us, then what good does it do to simply isolate ourselves from people that so desperately need to see it?  What is the point of that?  I’m not saying to compromise our belief systems or principles in order to engage out communities.  However, let’s be honest.  Is having a hayride, a bounce house, free food, and live Christian music really compromising on our Christian values?  I certainly don’t think so.  My son attends our church’s Mother’s Day Out program.  Today was trick-or-treating and dress up day, so Lacie and I allowed him to dress up as Batman, at his request.  Does this mean we have compromised our Christian values and are “false Christians”?  I think not.  Jesus didn’t spend all His time with all of the “saved” people.  He went out and sought out those that were in desperate need of the light of the Savior.  He ate with them.  He fellowshipped with them.  He prayed with them.  He loved them.  They saw the light, and because they saw the light, many of them were forever changed by it.

That is exactly what we are going to do.  We are going to engage our community.  We are going to feed them.  We are going to fellowship with them.  We are going to pray with them. 

We are going to love them.  We are going to show them the light of Christ in the hopes that they will be forever changed.  And we are going to do all of this by going straight to them instead of waiting for them to come to us.  This does not make us “false Christians”.  On the contrary, I think that this makes us genuine Christians.  As long as I am pastor of University Baptist Church, we will continue to seek out our community in a variety of ways, including events like Halloween and Mardi Gras, in the desire to let our light shine brightly.  We are not going to hide it, and we are not compromising anything in the process.  Let’s not give Satan too much credit by isolating ourselves.  Rather, let’s make him really mad by engaging people with a message of hope and love that can penetrate the darkness of Halloween.

Pray for our Fall Fest tomorrow.  Final preparations are under way right now.  Pray that God would be glorified through our efforts and that people would see the light of Christ shining brightly through us.  I can’t wait to see what the Lord does tomorrow.

I Love You,

JP

I’ve been preaching through Genesis on Sunday mornings, and this past week I preached a sermon that was particularly tough for me.  Whenever people ask me how I come up with an idea for a sermon, my response is always the same.  “The Holy Spirit preaches it to me before He preaches it to you”, so from this perspective this particular sermon was no different.  The Holy Spirit always shows me through my sermon preparations areas in my own life that I need to correct and improve upon, but for some reason, I’ve really been wrestling with what the Lord showed me through this past week’s sermon.

I preached on Genesis 4:3-7 and focused on the role of Cain as worshipper.  You’ll remember that this is the account of Cain and Abel presenting their offerings to the Lord.

In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.  But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.  The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.  So Cain was very angry and his face was downcast.  Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry?  Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.  Genesis 4:3-7 (NIV)

Every time I hear pastors or preachers expound on this passage, I generally hear them focus on the importance of having a right heart when presenting our acts or worship to the Lord and bringing Him our very best.  That’s certainly true, and I wouldn’t argue against any of that.  But I’ve really been spending a lot of time focusing on Cain’s response to this situation. 

Put yourself in Cain’s shoes for a moment.  Cain is the older brother.  With that title of oldest sibling comes all the expectations and benefits that one would expect.  Now Cain has presented his offering to the Lord, and Scripture doesn’t give us any indication that this wasn’t a good offering.  I’m sure the crops that Cain presented were just fine, so Cain is probably feeling pretty good.  Then all of a sudden, here comes baby brother with the fatty portion of his flock.  We all know that God looks upon Abel’s offering favorably, and we all know why.  It was the attitude of his heart that made the difference.  Just like that, the older brother is now on the outside looking in, and he is watching his baby brother getting the favor that he feels he deserves.  The sibling rivalry has just given birth to jealousy, and now the jealousy is giving way to anger.  Just when the anger is really starting to boil over, the Lord, in His graciousness, gives Cain a heartfelt warning.  “Don’t do this.  Get your anger under control before it destroys you.”

Through Cain’s response to the Lord and the Lord’s response to Cain, I have been learning a lot about bitterness.  It seems to me, and I am certainly no exception to this, that people these days are harboring so much bitterness.  Whether it’s bitterness towards loved ones or bitterness about the way a certain situation unfolded, people are angry.  Unfortunately, Christians are not immune to this bitterness and anger.  Our churches are full of people who are bitter and angry, even towards other brothers and sisters in Christ.  Quite honestly, it is destroying our churches.  If we do not find a way to let go of our bitterness and anger and become people of restoration and reconciliation, our worship experiences and frankly, our relationships with the Lord will never be what He intended them to be. 

You see, I’ve found that bitterness and anger is a lot like a piece of shredded wheat that is caught in your teeth.  If you don’t deal with it and get it out, then it will fester in your gums, ultimately leading to infection and extreme pain, as the wound isn’t allowed to properly heal.  If you deal with it, it might be sore for a while, but eventually the healing will come.  As someone once told me, when you hate the only one you’re hurting is yourself, because most people don’t know it, and the other ones don’t care.  How true!  When we allow our bitterness and anger to consume us, it does so often with disastrous consequences, ultimately separating us from a full relationship with God.

I’m learning to let go of some long held bitterness and anger in my life.  It’s not easy, and it’s certainly a process, but with the strength of the Lord, I’m learning to let go.  I wonder how many of you need to let things go.  Maybe you’ve been holding on to something for so long that you don’t even remember why you’re angry in the first place.  Are you ready to let it go?  Remember that we serve a God who focused much of His earthly ministry on reconciliation and restoration.  Let’s be a people of reconciliation and restoration.  Maybe it’s time to yank the shredded wheat out and let the healing begin.

Until Next Time,

Pastor JP

Have you ever felt like your body was just breaking down?  Well, that’s kind of what I feel like right now.  Over the course of the past four months, it feels like my body is progressively aging.  First, it was a miserable bout with plantar fasciitis and a bone spur, the results of which were sleeping with a boot on my foot for a month and getting new inserts for my shoes.  Then my knee began to throb to the point where it was difficult to stand on my own.  Finally, just this week, I managed to chip a tooth.  How in the world did I manage that, you might be asking.  I was eating a piece of monkey bread, of course!  I don’t list all these things to elicit any sympathy but simply to tell you that I feel old, and I figure that some of you out there in the blogosphere might feel the same way.  Can I get an amen???

Don’t get me wrong, I fully realize that I’m only 34 years old, so by the world’s standards, I still have many years to go.  I certainly hope that’s true, as there is so much more that I want to experience and accomplish.  It’s just that I’ve begun to slowly feel Father Time creep up on me.  As I have pondered the facts that I’m getting older and that I am perhaps not as light on my feet as I once was, I find myself thinking about a day where my knee won’t hurt and I won’t walk with a limp.  As I wonder what that glorious day will be like, I can think of no more comforting passage of scripture than the words of the apostle John from Revelation 21:1-5:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said,

“Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Wow!  Reading this description in its context produces such an overwhelmingly emotional response in my soul.  Imagine it, my friends.  There will come a day where we will behold King Jesus face to face in all His majesty and glory.  On that day, there will be no more sadness.  No more loss.  No more heartache.  No more physical pain.  On that day, we will not feel any emotion other than sheer joy.  Jesus’ words in verse 5 certainly ring true.  He is actively making ALL THINGS new!!!  That includes new resurrection bodies for us.  So not only will we have new bodies that function fully, but we will be in the presence of the One that we have talked about, prayed to, and pointed people to.  What a glorious day that will be!  I can’t wait!

But alas, that day’s not here yet, so until then I just have to wait and be thankful for the promise of new beginnings.  Not only will I wait, but I will actively serve the Lord and point others to the promise of a new beginning.  So what about you?  Do you have that promise of a new beginning?  If not, I’d love to tell you about how you can get it.  If you already have it, are you actively waiting and pointing people to that same promise?  In closing, let me leave you with the words of one of my favorite hymns, one that speaks to this same topic:

What a Day That Will Be

Words by Jim Hill

There is coming a day,
When no heart aches shall come,
No more clouds in the sky,
No more tears to dim the eye,
All is peace forever more,
On that happy golden shore,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be,
When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be

Until Next Time,

Pastor JP

I am so excited that I could just do a cartwheel!!!!  (But I won’t, and you’ll thank me for that!)  Why am I so giddy?  Because this coming Sunday morning, our church will be coming together for one special service.  We’ll be observing baptism and the Lord’s Supper and will be following our service with a dinner on the grounds.  This is special because our church general has two morning services.  The challenge with that is that not everyone gets to see everyone else.  As a result, it can be easy to feel a division within the body.  This service will be a chance to get our entire church family, all 200 strong, under one roof.  It will be a celebration of all that the Lord has done in our midst over the course of the past year.  We have so much to be profoundly grateful for.  We have experienced rapid growth, welcoming over 25 new members, 12 by baptism.  There is a passion and excitement among our body that is almost palpable.  Simply put, the Lord is moving in a mighty way and is growing our body, spurring us to action along the way!!!

There is something to be said about doing life with a community of believers.  Man wasn’t made to be alone.  That is why God, in His infinite wisdom, created woman to be His partner and helpmate.  In much the same way, God gave us the church not only as a way to serve Him and bring Him glory on a corporate level but also to serve as sources of support and strength to each other.  I like what Paul says about the church in Colossians 3:16-17:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.  (NIV)

This why the church exists!  We exist to teach one another and to hold each other accountable in this thing we call life!  We also come together to praise the Lord and express our thanks to Him as a body united in the Word that dwells in all of us.  Because the Word resides in us as a believers, we have an obligation to display that at all times, particularly as a corporate body.  I’m so thankful that I get to worship, serve, laugh, and cry with the faith community of University Baptist Church!  I honestly cannot imagine doing life without them.

What about you?  Who are you doing life with?  It was the poet John Donne that once said “no man is an island”.  True words!!!  In the same way that man was not meant to be without a spouse, man was also not meant to be without spiritual support.  We will never make it in this world without the love, accountability, and support that comes from a community of faith.  Do you have such a community?  If not, can I encourage you to find one in your local setting?  Step out on faith and find one that you connect with.  If you’re looking for the perfect one, keep looking, but I can assure you that if you allow Him to, the Lord will lead you to the one that He wants you to serve in.  If you are already in a community of faith, do you let them know how much they mean to you?  Do you truly appreciate them, or do you take them for granted?  Allow me to be share my feelings to much church family.

To my faith family at University Baptist Church, please always know how much I love you.  It is indeed the privilege of my life to shepherd you and to do life with you.  You will never know how much joy you bring me and how much you all mean to me.  I need you all just as much as you need me.  God is currently doing something in our midst that is kind of leaving us all speechless, but I promise you that as long as we continue to look to Him, the best is yet to come.  I can’t wait to worship with you all on Sunday! 

Until Next Time,

Pastor JP

I’m not going to lie.  These past few weeks have not been what I would necessarily call “good weeks”.  On top of the regular load of meetings and study, there has just been a lot of standing with…and crying with…people who are struggling.  Whether that struggle is with sin or with their own mortality, the struggle is real.  There have been lots of long nights and limited family time over the course of the past few weeks.  Then there was the unexpected death of someone I had a great deal of respect for.  It’s been a “walking through the valley” period.  And yet through it all, there have been two constants that remained-the presence and peace of the Lord and Lacie, the love of my life.

So in today’s edition of the blog, I thought that I would just write a little about Lacie, just in case you didn’t know just how wonderful she is.  She is, without a doubt, the best gift that God Almighty, in His infinite wisdom, chose to bestow upon me.  How underserving I am, yet not a day goes by that I don’t thank Him for placing her in my life.  Besides the Lord, Lacie has always been the constant in my life.  No matter what storms were or are happening in my life, I take one look at her, and I instantly remember that as long as she is waiting for me when I walk through the door, things can’t really be all that bad. 

We were high school sweethearts.  I was 18, and she was 17 when our best friend Jess introduced us.  I still remember the first time I saw her and thinking, “My goodness, that’s the deepest shade of red hair I’ve ever seen.”  It’s certainly served her well.  You know what they say about ladies with red hair.  It’s usually assumed that they have a fiery spirit to match the hair.  Well I can certainly attest to the truthfulness of that assumption.  I suppose that after fifteen years with me plus the addition of three kids, it’s kind of a requirement for the job.  It’s funny though.  The thing that first really attracted me to her is the same thing that still attracts me to her now.  Her laugh.  Oh that laugh.  If you know Lacie, then you know which laugh I’m talking about.  Not that fake one she’s doing to be polite, but that one that seems to start at her toes and works itself up to her lungs.  The one that threatens to cut off her breathing.  After all these years, there is still no one I’d rather laugh with.  I remember one of our friends telling us “Y’all look like y’all have so much fun together.”  Indeed we did.  Indeed we do. 

Not that things have always been easy.  On the contrary, there have been some unspeakably, indescribably tough times, but through it all, we have kept looking to the Lord, and as a result, we knew that we were never walking through the valley alone.  When we got married, our pastor told the congregation that “Lacie doesn’t always say much, but when she speaks, people listen.  Truer words about Lacie have never been said.  She is soft spoken by nature, but she carries herself with such dignity and charm that people just kind of flock to her, which is fine by me.  It’s often been said that behind every good man is an equally good woman.  I’m not sure that applies in our case because Lacie has never been a step behind.  Whenever we walk into a room together, I always feel like President John F. Kennedy when he said, “I’m just the man who escorted Mrs. Kennedy to Paris.”  I’m just the man that escorted Mrs. Cox to wherever it was that was we were going that particular day.   

She always knew that I was going to be a pastor.  She knew before I did.  One day, she told me that the Lord told her that she was going to be a pastor’s wife.  My reply to her was something along the lines of “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m kind of going into politics.”  Her response was “we’ll see”.  Fifteen years later here we are.  I’m a pastor.  A while back, I asked her what she would have done if I never became a pastor.  She simply looked at me and said “I knew it would happen.  I just decided to sit back and wait for you to listen.” 

By the way, what a pastor’s wife she is.  She’s not the one who will play the piano and organ, direct VBS, chair the hospitality team, and lead children’s choir.  She very much prefers to be behind the scenes.  She has always said that her primary ministry area is that of wife and mother.  Everything else comes after that.  She manages our home and schools our children seemingly so effortlessly and still manages to bake things for the church function of the week, all the while watching church members’ children so they can tend to their business.  I am in awe of her. 

I guess what I’m trying to get to is that the Lord has blessed me with the quintessential Proverbs 31 woman.  This is what Proverbs 31:10-17, 25-31 says about finding a wife of noble character:

 ^a]A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
    all the days of her life.
¹³ She selects wool and flax
    and works with eager hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
    bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
    her arms are strong for her tasks.

²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many women do noble things,
    but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done,
    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

How incredibly blessed and eternally grateful I am to have found a Proverbs 31 woman like her.  I am a better pastor and a better person for having Lacie Renee’ Stouff Cox in my life.  Men, do you have a Proverbs 31 woman in your life?  If so, do they know how grateful you are for them?  Do you tell them?  Tell and show your spouse just how grateful you are for them.

Until Next Time,